Astronaut’s Mother Killed In Accident While He’s In Orbit
Posted December 20, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It’s likely never happened before and you probably never thought much about what might occur if it did. But in the modern era of space travel it seems almost inevitable.
The mother of an astronaut died in a car crash Wednesday and there’s no chance her son can possibly be there to attend her funeral. He’s up on the International Space Station (I.S.S.), 400 kilometres above the Earth.
Police believe Rose Tani’s impatience led to the end of her very long life. The 90-year-old was stopped behind a school bus at a train crossing in Lombard, Illinois and decided to try and get around the yellow vehicle. So she pulled out and passed not only the bus but the lowered warning gate on the tracks.
The train hit her car on the passenger side and it skidded for some distance before the conductor could stop. She was rushed to hospital where she was pronounced dead.
It was only after officials realized who she was that they also discovered where her son was located. Flight engineer Daniel Tani took off for the I.S.S. on the space shuttle Discovery October 23rd.
But there are no new missions scheduled until late January, and the 46-year-old can’t possibly come home until then. NASA officials told the stunned son about the tragedy over a private communication line and have offered him long distance grief counselling as he absorbs the news and the emotions of not being able to return to his family. One report quotes him as feeling “powerless.”
Authorities confirm all astronauts all told about the possibility something bad could happen while they’re away, but in the half century of space travel, they’ve rarely had to confront such a grim reality.
Ironically, the scientist was supposed to be home for Christmas, but repeated technical glitches with the shuttle delayed the mission until next month. Tani’s mother raised him alone after his father died when he was just 4 or 5, and she reveled in his accomplishments. The two were said to be incredibly close.
In a posting on NASA’s website issued before the accident, Tani obviously had his mother on his mind. “I was scheduled to go home before Christmas, but it looks like I’ll spend my time here,” he wrote after the shuttle was scrubbed. In one poignant sentence addressing his family, he adds this now-heartbreaking addendum. “I’ll certainly be able to call home and talk to everybody and wish them a happy Christmas.”
For one saddened man, the void of space is nothing compared to the void in his heart.
Photo credit: NASA
